It was nearly twenty years ago that I first heard and fell madly in love with the first bars of “Like A Fool,” the slowly developing opening salvo on Superchunk’s 1994 masterpiece Foolish.

Now I sit here as a 37-year-old man with aches and pains not untypical of such an age. I don’t know exactly how to grow up or get old, and I trust that you understand the inherent difference between those two not-unrelated actions.

Superchunk are still at it. They are into their mid-twenties now as a band, and mid-forties as band mates. With their last album, 2010’s majestic Majesty Shredding and even more so with their loud and brilliant new long-player I Hate Music, which will be released tomorrow, the Chapel High quartet are not-at-all-quietly providing the template and soundtrack for both growing up and getting old awesomely. That is to say, to not only age but to get better, more passionate, and more intensely lovely too.

I am a better man now as I type this and Superchunk are undeniably a better band now than they were in the 90’s. Their music is cohesive, full tilt rock, and lyrically, they’ve never been more abstractly sharp. It doesn’t hurt that the magical place Barcelona, a city who’s name is immensely musical, is involved in track 6.